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bjornsdatter.bsky.social
Maris
@bjornsdatter.bsky.social
100 followers 330 following 19 posts
Metalsmith, sailor, weaver, chef
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bjornsdatter.bsky.social
Went to see the process of democracy in action in my small town in Germany today.

Saw this bike being parked outside the building where the debate tonight was. When we left, the sticker was neatly placed.

Nice to see prompt responses to the absurdity of Nazism.
A large blue and red sign from the AfD Party in Germany mounted on the back of a bike. The sign says “Sei schlau, wähl Blau”something along the lines of “Be cool, vote blue”. A sticker in red, slapped on top says “Nazis töten.” The direct translation being “Nazis kill.” …but can also be switched around.
February 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
Was playing around today trying to paint snow, and got an accidental really good start on some northern lights! Here‘s hoping I don‘t mess it up when I add in the color…
Unfinished watercolor of a snowy tree under the northern lights.
January 4, 2025 at 8:27 PM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
New year, new snow!
A calico kitten viciously attacks a wild grapevine, her pawprints showing in the light dusting of snow in the shade of the roof. Wild rosehips covered in snow next to a birch tree‘s trunk. The path into a snowcovered little woods, baby evergreens in the foreground, while their elders reach tall in the distance. A firework in the distance reflects on the snow and the hood of a car in the foreground.
January 3, 2025 at 1:40 PM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
Little one has been missing playtime now that I’m off to school (Deutsche Integrationskurs here we go!)

Ever since we lost her brother, I’ve been learning how to play like a cat. There’s naught she loves more than fluffing up like she’s the scariest one and play attacking me with velvet paws!
A wide-eyed tortoiseshell kitten hiding behind an orange pillow looking side eyed at the camera. A wide-eyed tortoiseshell kitten hiding behind an orange pillow now looking at something outside of the frame. A wide-eyed tortoiseshell kitten hiding behind an orange pillow staring wildly, about to attack. Naptime after a vicious play session. The kitten is holding onto her human’s arm and purring.
December 10, 2024 at 4:09 PM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
Loving the little bits of magic that show up in these darkening days.

Last night I got to join a group of the women from the village for tea and a story by firelight. When we left the cozy space after a lovely tale, the stars wheeled above, stark and bright, reflecting in the new fallen snow.
December 5, 2024 at 5:37 AM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
This morning I wake after a glorious night sleeping the right way on European pillows. I have been sleeping wrong way too long.

For those who don’t know, they’re HUGE. They’re square. They’re understuffed?

My partner would fluff them up so nicely, then I’d fold them down to the ‘right’ size. 🧵
November 27, 2024 at 7:00 AM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
Listening to Carsie Blanton this afternoon as I try to get myself going on this week. She’s always such a perfect mix of protest and joy. Especially these days. Her newest albums are freakin’ amazing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=itgr...
Hope (Official Video)
YouTube video by Carsie Blanton
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2024 at 12:25 PM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
The wind lashes snow against the house, but inside it’s snug and warm. Purring on my bed is one who endlessly wants to be out under a #bluesky (and it is right and proper to pay the cat tax)

Everyone, meet Miss Ayashe Whiskerstay! She would like it to be known that she is enjoying her first snow.
A mostly black tortoiseshell kitten with hazel eyes looking directly at the camera is climbing down a lichen-covered plum tree branch. The late fall light makes everything glow sharply golden. In the background a wooden house with a red roof is highlighted against a pale blue sky. There are hints of snow; some of the blurred branches in the background look a bit too white, and there are white patches on the lower edges of all the photovoltaic and photothermal panels on the roof of the house behind the cat. The same tortoiseshell kitten now perches on a post in a completely snowy landscape. She is completely floofed up, and her orange patches show up brightly against the blue-white of the snow lying all around and the dark greys of the bushes behind her. The afternoon light streaks in golden and strong, its sharp lines cris-crossing the slats of the porch. The tortie kitten cautiously steps towards a large lump of snow on the back porch, her paw outstretched to bat at it.
November 22, 2024 at 10:52 PM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
A throwback to my undergraduate thesis, exploring the question “Where does the artist fit?“ A handwoven and dyed piece of cloth that was interwoven with quotes from many different artists I interviewed. #art #tbt
A weaver sits smiling at a jack floor loom. In her hand she is holding the shuttle, getting ready to throw it across the warp yet again. The warp is not particularly wide, but I’d very long, each side of the loom has a thick cylinder of threads all wound across the beams. The finished weaving stretched out in the grass to dry. The weaving stretches from the foreground and reaches the shadow of an apple tree 63 feet (21 meters) away. Behind the tree is a long low building with a flower bed at its base. A woman stands in a pine forest in the fall, wearing warm layers and bright yellow dish gloves, the hands dyed blue. She is inspecting a long piece of cloth that is hung up on some lines between trees. The cloth is mottled blue-green, as it has recently been pulled from an indigo vat, and the indigo is still oxidizing from a bright yellow to the permanent blue that the cloth will be. A tall-ceilinged room with pillars is draped with the weaving from the previous photos. It can now be seen that the cloth was dyed in a gradient, and bright dots of light are shining through it. On the pillars are signs connecting words from the artists down into the weaving. In the foreground, a hand-thrown bowl rests. It was glazed in the same colors of blue and white as the weaving and sits empty except for the cracks in it that were fixed with gold. Surrounding the bowl are the red threads of each artist’s interview and the round clay chips that visitors to the installation could move to the place that most resonated with them.
November 21, 2024 at 10:29 PM
bjornsdatter.bsky.social
Opening my existence here with one of my favorite pieces I've made - a heron standing out in the wind.

This piece is made of many layers of powdered glass, some delineated by lines of pure silver wire. Each layer is successively fired in a kiln. #bird #art #handmade #enamel
A cloisonné enameled piece of copper, far taller than it is wide, rests upon a piece of driftwood with fern fronds and shells blurry in the background. The enameled piece has a warm copper background, where clear glass was laid over pure copper that had thin stripes hammered into it, almost like the siding of a building. On the lower half rests an abstract cloisonné Great Blue Heron rendered in gradients of blues and greys, its feathers blowing in the wind. A close up of the heron in the other image. Here the depth of the glass of the piece becomes apparent, and subtleties of greens and whites become clearer. A bubble rests underneath the tip of the heron's beak, as if it had just caught a fish and there was something left over. You can also see how the color of the copper shifts from pink to red to black at the very edges of the piece, where oxygen interacted with the copper to oxidize it.
November 20, 2024 at 7:31 PM